Senators say gun reforms will pass

Charles J. Lewis

Updated 11:17 pm, Thursday, February 14, 2013

WASHINGTON -- Connecticut's two senators predicted Thursday that a bipartisan agreement on new gun legislation would soon be announced in the Senate, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal called a top National Rifle Association official "delusional" and "paranoid" for his call to gun owners to buy more guns and to "stand and fight."

Blumenthal and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-C0nn., said the spectrum of enthusiasm among lawmakers for new gun laws ran from wide support for universal background checks, dropping to milder support for a ban on the purchase of large capacity ammunition magazines to less support for a ban on assault weapons.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is writing the legislation, and a bipartisan package will be announced soon, according to Blumenthal, a member of the panel. Blumenthal said he hoped for support from Republican Sens. Tom Coburn, of Oklahoma; Mark Kirk, of Illinois; and Susan Collins, of Maine.

Both senators sharply criticized a fiery statement by Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association -- a leading opponent of new gun restrictions -- who wrote an essay for The Daily Caller website in which he envisioned a "hellish world" beset by "terrorists, crime, drug gangs, the possibility of Euro-style debt riots, civil unrest or natural disaster."

Blumenthal said LaPierre's essay was "discouraging and delusional" and "threatening in its tone."

Murphy gave an upbeat assessment of gun politics in Congress and said he saw "very few Republicans drawing hard lines in the sand" on gun control.

"The Republicans know they can't become the party of assault weapons, the party of large capacity ammunition magazines ... The question for Republicans is this: Do they want to go into the next election as the party of the gun lobby?" Murphy said.

Separately, Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., whose Fifth Congressional District includes Newtown, kicked off a Valentine's Day lobbying campaign to press her House and Senate colleagues to adopt gun-control legislation.

The Valentine's Day theme was symbolized by homemade cards and teddy bears that volunteers delivered to all 435 House members and 100 senators. The T-shirts on the stuffed bears carried the message: "Protect children, not guns."

The Newtown shootings were "a call to action for this country," Esty said.